


Reversal

by holdouttrout



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-05-27
Updated: 2007-05-27
Packaged: 2017-11-15 20:59:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/531638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/holdouttrout/pseuds/holdouttrout
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When it was their turn to hear, they didn't listen. They know better now.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reversal

**Author's Note:**

> I would love constructive feedback on this one. I don't know if I'd say that it was fun to write, but it was a very interesting experience.

It fell to Sam to meet with the representatives from the new planet. Jack had, point-blank, refused to have anything to do with a people so obviously desperate and so pitifully behind in their technology.

"Better that they stick to their own world, keep their own people safe."

Sam reminded him they had already lost the safety of obscurity--they'd simply had no luck their first time through the 'gate.

"Much like us," Jack remarked dryly. Carter, her words taken from her, watched him leave with a frown. He still managed to surprise her, sometimes, and she was always left a little off-balance. After so long, she expected to be able to convince him, especially when it concerned the groups of explorers who occasionally found them.

She joined the rest of her ambassadorial team in the gateroom. It looked empty to her without the observation room lit or the armed airmen standing guard.

They had no need for such measures anymore.

The 'gate roared to life, but no klaxon sounded. She shifted her weight slightly, and then the first person stepped through the 'gate.

It was a team of four. Sam had to shift her weight again as she shoved back the memories. The important thing was to deal with the here and now. Everything in the past was gone.

They wore loose clothing, but they were obviously not dressed for the field. The two women on the team (a point in their favor, in Sam's estimation) wore tunics that draped over one shoulder. The men wore robes with loose sleeves. Sam did not fail to notice the alien technology around the wrist of one of the women, nor the other, less visible, signs of gleaned technology.

Their leader--the shorter of the two men--stepped forward, and Sam saw the barest hint of hesitation as he took their silent delegation in. She allowed herself a small smile and stepped forward.

"Welcome to Earth."

*_*_*_*_*

She gave them a tour of their facilities, explaining the purpose of each piece of technology they asked about. The items left out were fairly innocuous, but she still saw the looks of astonishment and speculation on the faces of the members of the team at different times. They really liked the naquadah reactors Sam had lying on her lab table. Sam didn't let them know they were outdated, and didn't mention she only kept them around for when she couldn't sleep, wanted something to do with her hands.

They concluded the tour in the briefing room. The flags were still there, although the table had been destroyed a while ago and replaced with a thinner table of black stone.

She gathered the team around the table, looked them all in the eye.

"Nothing I can give you will make any real difference."

They all looked taken aback. The youngest-looking woman, who was called Aya, protested. "But you have all this technology, all this knowledge! With just one of those generators, we could power our operation for a year. We could strike back at them--"

Sam shook her head sadly. She didn't expect anything different, not really--they'd had to learn the hard way, too.

The leader, Haresh, stood up from the table. "You don't understand. Without your help, we'll be destroyed."

Sam opened her mouth to respond, but she didn’t have to.

"If we give you anything, you'll destroy yourselves."

Sam turned to find Jack behind her. His eyes were tired. He looked past her, directly at the group before him.

He said, "You should probably see something, folks," and walked right back out of the room.

Sam nodded to the group, and followed Jack, the others trailing behind through the near-empty corridors, their steps muffled against the rough concrete. They traveled up the elevators, although only Sam and Jack felt the lack of vibration, the slight difference in the light that permeated the base.

They reached the upper level quickly and silently. Instead of going out the front, Jack led the small group through a hatch, through a narrow tunnel to another bank of elevators. But here, the elevators were broken down, and he led them up a stairwell. They were all in good shape, and even though it was a long way up, no one complained. Jack's shoulders remained set for the entire journey.

They reached the top. Jack stepped through an open doorway, first. The others followed; Sam stayed a little behind, just inside the doorway.

Jack walked straight to the window, gestured expansively. "Ladies and gentlemen, you see before you Earth, the home of the much-vaunted Tau'ri."

The four before Sam stepped back in shock. Outside the window lay a wasteland that stretched as far as the eye could see.

Sam straightened. "We were able to shield the mountain in the initial attack, but there was nothing we could do for the rest."

Aya gaped. "For the whole planet?"

Sam exchanged a look with Jack.

Jack said, "We were cautioned about trying to move too fast, and we didn't listen. In the end, the trouble came from within our own people."

Sam lowered her head. When she raised it again, her eyes flashed. The team members nearest her took a step back. They had been warned, but Sam knew from personal experience the transition from host to symbiote was still unsettling. "We had hoped the Tau'ri would succeed where others had failed. But they proved to be too young still. And from what we have seen, you would share their fate, in the end."

The symbiote bowed their head again, and Sam returned. Jack, however, had to drive the point home. He spoke in the rough tenor of a Tok'ra, though he preferred not to bother with the signal of lowering his head. None of them needed the help to distinguish the symbiote from the host, these days.

"When the Tau'ri failed to control their own natures, there were a few who turned to the Tok'ra in order to join forces and try to protect their race from themselves. Unfortunately, we were too late to stop the damage."

Jack was silent.

Haresh said, "But you can't know we'll make the same mistakes you did!"

Sam spoke again. "It was decades ago that we set out through the Stargate for the first time. And even then, we screwed up. We were arrogant, and we told those who tried to warn us something very similar."

The four teammates exchanged desperate looks.

Sam felt their looks like a kick in her gut, said, "I'm sorry. Truly, I am. But we cannot help you."

It was the end of the audience; the group returned to the gateroom, and they dialed out. The visitors sent them accusing looks as they walked up the ramp and disappeared one by one through the wormhole. After the last one had stepped through and the wormhole dissipated, Sam turned to look at Jack, but he refused to meet her eyes and disappeared into the bowels of the empty mountain.  



End file.
